Interview: Monkey Island - The Return of Adventure Games

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LucasArts relaunches a beloved franchise – but what's next?

By Patrick Kolan

The adventure game genre never really died.

Well, it did – when LucasArts abandoned the genre in favour of Darth Vader and the Adventures of the Quick Buck – but apparently we should brace ourselves for something resembling a resurgence; a dry-run before the big act. Other companies have since taken up the torch, releasing fresh episodic Sam & Max adventures, as well as Homestar Runner spin-offs – but the landscape has mostly been devoid of major, mainstream releases.

All of this is set to change, however, with LucasArts publishing two adventure games this year – both set in the world of Monkey Island – and both direct-download, online only titles.

The first is actually a rerelease of the original Secret of Monkey Island – an Xbox Live Arcade and PC redux of the famed original adventure game that helped propel the publisher (as well as Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert) into the development spotlight.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is coming to PC and XBLA.

The second title is actually a misnomer, given that, like Sam & Max, it's actually a series of five episodes, to be released gradually from mid-July on WiiWare and PC. Entitled Tales of Monkey Island, the game is a brand new adventure with a few unique – quasi-supernatural, even – elements that are as baffling as they are potentially hilarious. LeChuck's spirit? Living in Guybrush's left forearm? Bizzare, no?

It does beg the question, though – why now? And is this the start of something bigger? Those are the questions we put to Brooks Brown, Web Producer (Community-oriented dude) at LucasArts. Read on for the full enchilada.

IGN AU: Hey Brooks, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. I guess what I wanted to pick your brain about was this apparent 'about-face' for LucasArts, since its shift to licensed properties. It's been so long since we've seen a LucasArts adventure game – why now?

Brooks Brown: Hmmm… I think there's a confluence of perfect timing. Not only is our president [Darrell Rodriguez] very big on adventure games, everyone at the company has been very positive about it recently. We've been able to partner with Telltale Games to bring out Tales of Monkey Island; we've got our team who's been doing the remake of Secret of Monkey Island.

There are so many perfect events that came [together] – I don't want to say that LucasArts has ignored it --

IGN AU: …Well, that's debatable.

Brooks Brown: --Internally, everyone's very big fans of these games. No one's sitting there saying "Well, I hate Guybrush." It was more a matter of bringing products out at the right time, and it was just such a perfect set of events for us.

IGN AU: Sure, but why right now, in 2009?

Brooks Brown: Well, digital downloads have finally gotten going; I think that's a major factor. With Xbox Live taking off the way it has, I would think that would be a major factor. There are so many things that go into it – it's a perfect storm!

IGN AU: So Telltale games raised their hands and said "we're free right now"? Or was it a case of LucasArts approaching them again?

Brooks Brown: I think we've been talking to them for a long time and they've been wanting to do something with the series. And with Telltale, they all worked for LucasArts – we've all known each other for a long time. We wanted to do something and they wanted to do something, so …how to put it… it was a matter of finding the right products at the right time.

Now that we're hitting the twenty-year mark for Guybrush, and working with the people behind that, it's just such great timing for the product.

Tales of Monkey Island is being helmed by the folks at Telltale. Safe hands one would think.

IGN AU: So are you building towards a twentieth anniversary edition for this series?

Brooks Brown: No; it just so happens that it's been 19 years – so not quite 20.

IGN AU: In the Xbox Live Arcade / PC rerelease of Secret, you have a one-button transition between the old graphics and the new overlay. Is there also extra content in there too?

IGN AU: Ah! Skippy – I remember him from the back of the box. Can you shed some light on anything else?

Brooks Brown: You'll find a Tentacle here and there – you'll find Manny (Grim Fandango) at some point… [laughs] There's little things like that – easter eggs at best. We wanted to stay true to the fans because the Monkey Island fan is about as rabid… er, we have Star Wars fans at LucasArts, so we know how hardcore these guys are. We want to make sure that we make them happy, while at the same time giving something to new fans – and we think we walked that fine line as well as we can.

IGN AU: I noticed that Guybrush has had a facelift and a haircut – in fact, is that an undercut? How very New Kids on the Block.

Brooks Brown: We tried to keep him true to Monkey Island 3 and 4. Ultimately, when we were concepting him out again, we debated whether to go with his original brown hair, since he has brown hair in the original key art – but in three and four he had these gorgeous blonde locks that he has now. So yeah, the hair has changed – and our forums are filled with pages and pages about that – but it's in line with three and four now.

Technically, Guybrush shouldn't speak – he should have words that float above his head. But we'd rather have Dominic Armato because people identify with him from Monkey Island 3 and 4.

The Secret of Monkey Island - the new look versus the old (inset).

IGN AU: Has there been any criticism since this was announced recently?

Brooks Brown: We haven't really had any criticisms – I've been very surprised, actually. People have been very supportive, because it is multiple things that fans have been crying for: It's LucasArts returning to PC in force, which is a big deal; our adventure game background is coming back out, it's Monkey Island and Guybrush coming back in multiple ways, we're working with Telltale again – there are a ton of reasons for people to be excited right now.

At some point, I'm sure there will be a negative person here or there, but I have to tell you, thousands upon thousands of Twitter tweets and thousands of fans on the Facebook page – people are excited. It really feels great to be back here.

IGN AU: Has Ron Gilbert taken a look at these yet? Has he had any feedback or involvement?

Brooks Brown: Ron has – he sat down with it. It's his baby, and for him to give it the thumbs up is really amazing. He was really excited about it.

IGN AU: Is it fair to say that the sales generated from these titles is going to determine whether or not LucasArts does more adventure games from now on?

Brooks Brown: I think that's a very fair thing to say. I would absolutely say to fans, "support adventure games." Just in general. Whether it's Secret of Monkey Island or Tales of Monkey Island, support them – preferably both! It sends a message 'upstairs' that there's this market there; you know there is, I know there is – and these people who are reading this – they know there is. We just need to prove it. Let's make it a success.

Which other adventure games do you want to see return to the gaming scene? Let us know in the IGN Forums!

Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island brings the adventures of pirate Guybrush Threepwood into a new era with an explosive storyline that becomes deeper and more entangled during the course of the five-episode saga.